> [[maxims]]
Speed is the greatest weapon you have in your arsenal. It fights entropy and increases your rate of learning. It builds momentum and draws others to you.
A common argument against speed: *Going fast = doing a bad job.*
Examples of why this is a dumb argument:
- [[How was the Empire State Building built in 405 days?]]
- [[How did NASA go from not existing to putting man on the moon in 11 years?]], led by James Webb & George Mueller
- The Pentagon was built in just 16 months during [[WWII]]
- The Alaska Highway (1,700 miles) was built in just 8 months in 1942 (that's 7 miles per day)
- The code breaking computer Colossus was designed and built by Britain in just 11 months during [[WWII]], led by Tommy Flowers
- The Golden Gate Bridge was completed ahead of schedule and under budget in just 4 years, led by Joseph B. Strauss
- America industrializing its manufacturing capabilities for [[WWII]], led by William Knudsen and Henry Kaiser
- See Patrick Collison's "[fast](https://patrickcollison.com/fast)" section of his website for more examples
Seeing a common thread here? Existential national threat is *so far* the greatest motivator we as a species seem to know of.
Another big driver of these projects seems often be a single-leader with indomitable will pushing the project, and people building it, forward.